


Carpe Diem

by Kanae



Series: Aikoto Week '16 [5]
Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Aikoto Week 2016, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 22:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7593148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kanae/pseuds/Kanae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The night before the final battle, Makoto touches Aigis’s heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Carpe Diem

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 6 of Aikoto Week ’16, to the prompt _Memories of You._
> 
> I’ve always wondered how Aigis’s Rank 10 event would be in the movie, so this is my version of it.

The door of his bedroom opens so quietly, he only notices because the light of the hall comes spilling into the room, flows like a stream until it touches his feet. When he raises his head to face it, he finds Aigis standing in the doorway, still clad in her winter uniform.  

“I thought you may be wearing your earphones, so I invited myself in,” she explains, her silhouette bathed by the light. “May I?” 

She lingers by the doorframe, and Makoto can’t help the smile that takes to his lips as he watches her and thinks back to how much she has changed, especially in this past month. It feels like a lifetime has gone by between now and the time Aigis entered his room as if it were her own.

In a way, Makoto guesses it really has been that long. 

“Yeah,” he remembers to say, turning his player off. 

Aigis closes the door behind her, crosses the room until she is standing right before him. Looking up at her from this close, there is no mistaking the concerned look in her eyes. “I had a feeling you were awake… Are you worried about tomorrow?” 

Makoto’s smile doesn’t waver but his eyes drop to his hands, which are hanging limply between his knees. “No, I know we’ll do it.” 

Aigis takes a seat beside him, so carefully the bed barely shifts. The room is silent for a long moment before Aigis asks, without looking at him, “Then, are you… afraid?” 

Makoto’s smile widens, somewhat sourly. “A little, I guess... I talked big, but we already lost senpai. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” 

“You won’t.” Aigis states, voice resolute. She is looking at him now, and gives him a reassuring smile when their eyes meet. “We made a promise and we will see it through. This, I know for certain.” 

Makoto returns the gesture, but it’s not long before it falters and he lowers his gaze again, absent-mindedly playing with one earphone. 

Aigis leans forward to peek at his face. "There is something else... troubling you, isn't there?” 

He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t need to. Aigis straightens again, voice thoughtful. “I... feel it, too. It's strange to know we will be fighting an entity that was once a… _friend_." 

It’s the first time he has ever heard Aigis refer to Ryoji as anything more than a menace, and for some reason it makes him happy. He wishes Ryoji could’ve been there to hear it. 

The thought does nothing but sharpen the hurt. 

"Do you think Ryoji's consciousness is still there somewhere?" The question sounds naive even to his own ears, but he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it. 

Aigis looks sad when she shakes her head. “I don’t know how much of himself he will be able to keep now that he has regained his final form. However,” she adds, placing a hand atop of his own and causing him to meet her eyes. She holds his gaze there. “I do believe the part of it that we knew as Ryoji-san would be happy to rest by your hand. That’s why he gave you a choice, isn’t it?" 

Slowly, Makoto finds himself mirroring her smile, the weight in his stomach lifting just slightly. “…Right.” 

Something forlorn crosses Aigis’s eyes, then. “It’s quite ironic that Ryoji-san and I were both made human through our bond with you. And yet…” She averts her gaze, takes her hand back and places it on her lap. “We have brought nothing but misfortune to you. I’m sorry, Makoto-san. I truly am.” 

Makoto’s eyes widen, brows furrowing with confusion. “Aigis, what are you talking about?” 

She does not budge, does not meet his eyes. So he is the one to reach for her hand now, fingers wrapping tightly around her own. 

“Being Ryoji’s friend made me happy. And _you_ …” 

He trails off, feels his throat dry. 

He’s known for a while now, probably ever since he met her, that Aigis is special to him. Precious in ways he isn’t ready to give a name to, not yet at least. So he reels the words back, exchanges them for the closest he can find. “…If it means meeting you, and everyone else, I would do it all over again. No second thoughts.” 

She is fully facing him now, hopeful but uncertain. Makoto gives her a reassuring smile, squeezes her hand. “I have no regrets, Aigis.” 

“Regrets…” Aigis echoes, growing thoughtful again. Her eyes slid away from his face to focus on his hand, still lying atop of hers. Makoto can only watch with baited breath as she slowly, tentatively, entwines her fingers with his. “This… reminds me of something Junpei-san was saying this morning. That we should do and say everything we want to, in order to make sure we will fight tomorrow with no regrets.” 

 _Oh_. 

The meaning of Junpei’s advice isn’t lost on him, and all of a sudden there’s an onslaught of feelings and questions crowding at his throat. Makoto swallows, thickly, but there is no avoiding it; not with Aigis this close, not with his heart thrumming this loud. 

 _Should I…?_  

Before he can gather himself enough to decide, Aigis has turned towards him, looking anxious but determined. 

“Makoto-san, what I told you the day we made our promise… I _meant_ it. Tomorrow, I will fight by your side. I will protect you. But I'd also...” Her voice grows strained, her eyes trembling with emotion. “Even after we defeat Nyx, _I_..." 

"Aigis..." 

“What I want most in the entire world… is to remain by your side. To _live_ by your side,” Aigis stresses the word, lets it shoulder the weight of her resolution. 

Makoto smiles, wonders if Aigis realizes just how closely those feelings mirror his own. “We will, Aigis. The two of us. Together.” 

“ _Together_ ,” Aigis repeats, lips curling up with something akin to sadness. “That’s the wish I hold closest to my heart. But in this past month we have spent together, I have come to realize that may not… be all there is to it.” 

Makoto isn’t sure he understands. “What do you mean, Aigis?” 

Aigis’s free hand fiddles with the hem of her skirt as she looks away from him, her hair concealing her expression. “Until now, I’ve always… referred to you as something _precious_ to me, but I now believe that’s not… the correct way to express this feeling,” she murmurs. 

Something catches in his chest and Makoto’s voice is barely a whisper when he asks, not daring to hope, “Then… what is it?” 

“I… It’s probably best if I don’t. If I were to use the proper words, it _wouldn’t_ …” She cuts herself short, fingertips digging into his skin. The pressure is not painful, but it makes concern well in Makoto’s gut. 

“Aigis…?” 

Aigis seems to get a hold of herself, because her hold eases. She turns her head just enough so that Makoto can see the starts of a shy if pained smile taking to her lips. 

“I’m sorry, Makoto-san… it appears I lose control of myself a lot when I’m around you. But that is… probably to be expected, isn’t it?” The smile broadens, touches her eyes and wraps itself around Makoto’s heart, makes him suck in a ragged breath. “Being with everyone makes me feel human, but being with _you_ , Makoto-san… it makes me feel alive.” 

And Makoto knows, then; can feel it in the air around them, that everything between them has just changed. There is no turning back, not anymore—and he doesn’t _want_ there to be. 

“I realize this isn’t much of a response, but I would like to cherish this feeling, to cherish _you_ , for as long as I live. I will… never leave you,” Aigis promises, giving him such a blinding, bright smile that he feels its warmth seep into his skin. 

And maybe that’s why he doesn’t try to resist when his body moves on its own. Why he lets his hands cup her cheeks and his eyes touch her parting lips before he covers them with his own. 

The kiss is feather light, but he feels it in the shiver that runs down his spine, in the sense of belonging that pools in the pit of his stomach.   

When he leans back, he gives the stunned Aigis a light smile before letting his forehead rest against her own, hands still cupping her cheeks. 

“...No regrets, right?" 

Makoto doesn’t know how much time passes before Aigis finally moves, but the tension in him unwinds when she covers one of his hands with her own. “Makoto-san, do you really mean that…?” 

He nods, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt. Aigis seems to shudder in his hold, “I… I’m sorry, I can’t think of anything to say…” she splutters, and Makoto would’ve been concerned if he couldn’t hear the smile in her quivering voice, feel it in the creases of her cheeks. “I feel so… _happy_ …! I feel I may break down somehow.” 

Makoto laughs, heart swelling somewhere close to his throat. He is still smiling when Aigis leans back to look at him, her eyes crinkling the way they do when she smiles. “Then, there’s… something I would like to ask of you, Makoto-san.” 

“Anything, Aigis,” he says, and means it. Aigis lets out a happy gasp, and Makoto can’t help but feel a little curious when she guides his hand to her ribbon. 

“At the base of my neck, behind the knot of this ribbon... My most important component is located there. My emotional engine... the Papillon Heart,” Aigis explains, innocently beaming up at him. “It's extremely delicate, but I... want you to touch it." 

Makoto’s eyes widen, darting from the ribbon to her own. “Aigis…! Are you sure…?” 

“ _Yes_ , I want you to do this, Makoto-san,” Aigis nods, closing her eyes and pressing his hand closer. “I want to leave indelible proof in this body of the understanding that you and I have reached. Not as a memory that can be erased, but as something permanent... Something irrevocable.” 

When she opens her eyes again, Makoto is struck speechless by the intensity of her gaze. There are no doubts in her eyes, just a silent request—a strong yearning that makes a wave of emotion wash over him, makes him take a steadying breath before nodding his agreement. 

Aigis beams again, looking more elated than he has ever seen her. “Ah… I’m so happy!” 

Her enthusiasm is contagious, and Makoto feels his lips twitching despite his nervousness. “Just tell me if it feels uncomfortable, okay?” 

Something seems to occur to her then, because she suddenly grows rather shy. “I… apologize in advance if I say something odd, or make unusual noises…” 

For some reason, hearing that makes Makoto feel rather self-conscious—but as Aigis lets go of his hand and meets his eyes from under her bangs, a light rosy hue on her cheeks, all Makoto can think about is that he wants to see this new side of her. 

That he wants to touch her heart, just like she has touched his. 

So he gently lies her down on the bed, eyes never leaving her own. 

“Well then,” she murmurs with a smile, fingers coming up to brush away his bangs. “Will you… untie my ribbon?”

 

.

.

.


End file.
